


Hey, Hawky

by Forts_Dimension



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, ml salt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forts_Dimension/pseuds/Forts_Dimension
Summary: In which what happens when you piss sweet Marinette Dupain-Cheng off when she has unexpected allies of her own. How will every single person on her bad side handle the taste of their own medicine?Fair warning; karma's a bitch.[ON HIATUS]
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 269
Kudos: 2012





	1. Patience Is Virtue

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my first shot at making a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic. I hope you enjoy!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was patient.

Having that quality was one of many that made her a good Ladybug. Tikki might even argue that she was one of the best Ladybugs to ever exist.

Other things that required her patience was babysitting famous news reporter Nadja Chamack's daughter; Manon. That spastic ball of energy was nothing Marinette couldn't handle.

Chloé Bourgeois was a special case. Sure, Marinette was able to put the egotistic blonde in her place when necessary, but sometimes her attitude was more than Marinette could tolerate.

Although recently, Chloé had been sitting with Marinette at the back of the classroom, huffing about how utterly ridiculous Lila was.

The bluenette was glad that at least another person could see through the vixen's lies and call her out for it. Maybe Chloé wasn't as much as a lost cause Marinette made her out to be.

What WAS depleting Marinette's patience at an alarming rate was that Lila Rossi managed to make good on her promise of taking away all her friends, making her look bad along the way.

It was safe to say that even if Paris had a full grown adult man abusing his power to make people get what he wanted, Lila was as, if not more evil then the man himself.

Marinette was baffled to say the least. All of her friends had believed a new comer's words over hers without a hint of skepticism. Did getting akumatized affect her classmates' IQ somehow?

Well, she was beginning to think so.

Adrien's advice to "take the high road" meant that every time Marinette was about to call Lila out for her lies, she would catch Adrien giving her a look of disappointment from the corner of her eye. Marinette would lose the courage to protect her friends from that master manipulator because he showed he did not have her back when he said he would.

Adrien reassured the bluenette they were in it together but she knew it was total bullshit. Her crush on him had soured after that. "Her lies aren't hurting anyone." He said once. 

His chastising for Marinette to stop trying to expose Lila because it didn't do anyone good and to avoid getting her akumatized repeatedly caused Marinette to attract the akumas instead.

Marinette watched from her isolated seat as Lila sidled up next to Adrien, caressing him everywhere she could in public, while spouting new lies for her audience to lap up.

Their willfulness to just accept her tales and praise her for them got the bluenette seething. Can't they see that Lila was duping them for attention?! 

_"Marinette," _A familiar voice in her head said, her face glowing an outline of a butterfly and Marinette realized that an akuma made its way to one her ribbons again.__

____

____

"Hey, Hawky."

____


	2. Odd Friendships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back at it again with chapter 2! Enjoy some angst with a pinch of salt.

Contrary to popular belief, Hawkmoth isn't always the inconsiderate psychopath Paris knows and hates. In fact, he has a soft spot for one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

"Hey, Hawky." speaking of the girl, she managed to attract one of his akumas for the 17th time. She bent over her desk as to avoid getting seen with the glowing outline on her face. 

He felt her anger directed at Lila Rossi, the infamous liar in his son's class.

_"You do realize I'm a supervillain that capitalizes on negative emotions, right?"_ Hawkmoth asked, his voice tinged with humor. 

"Yep, but I don't mind as much. I know you've given up on making a villain out of me for a while now." Marinette snickered at the memory of her first akumatization. 

"What's so funny?" Chloé smiled at her currently akumatized friend. She's known of Marinette's weird bond with the supervillain ever since he relented akumatizing her and opted to make conversations out of it instead. 

"Remember the first time I got akumatized?" Marinette asked the blonde beside her rather than watching her classmates crowd around the blabbering Lila.

They thought back to a couple of months ago, when that vixen came back to school. Chloé overheard Lila's threat to Marinette in the girls' restroom as well as her akumatization but she didn't expect the bluenette to escape it. 

"I recall you telling Hawkmoth to fuck off and go die in a ditch somewhere?" Chloé said with a smirk. 

"That's pretty accurate." Marinette burst into giggles as Hawkmoth grumbled from the other side of their connection. Some of her classmates turned to them and glared as Lila started up the water works because 'Marinette and Chloé were probably making fun of her'.

Adrien in particular looked curious as to what his two favorite girls were laughing about but then Lila clung onto him like a lifeline. Gabriel cringed at his son's passiveness before making a mental note to talk to him later when he got home. 

_"Your sass is the reason why I can't even begin to convince you, Marinette."_ Hawkmoth said in annoyance. 

Marinette smirked as she grabbed her sketchbook from her book bag, "I'll take that as a compliment." 

Chloé only looked amused at Marinette's banter with the villain and decided he might not be entirely bad if he was able to somehow cheer her up. Hawkmoth had better chances of redeeming himself than Lila, honestly. 

Marinette sketched a new dress onto a fresh page, the supervillain giving her constructive criticism as she did. If he had this much knowledge in fashion and designing, why are his akumas so damn ugly sometimes? 

_"I heard that."_ Oops, right. He could read minds. 

_____________________

Alya was not happy with Marinette's behavior.

First, calling the new student a liar. Then, getting all jealous and harassing Lila in private. Now, becoming friends with _Chloé_ , her longtime bully?! What was happening to her? 

Alya was really tempted to just confront Marinette, shake her to her senses, and demand her to make up with Lila already. 

That's what the blogger thought as Lila cried into her shoulder after classes were let out that day. 

"Marinette, she-" Lila hiccuped without actual tears shed, "she texted me a while ago that I should go and kill myself. " Alya gritted her teeth in anger, Chloé was really rubbing off on Marinette!

Determined, Alya decided that she had to put a stop to this madness herself. 

The next morning, the red-head stomped her way towards Marinette, who was sitting on a bench in the courtyard and scribbling away in her sketchbook. 

Alya smacked it out of Marinette's grasp and heads turned to watch the drama beginning to unfold. Marinette could only gape after her precious sketchbook scraping across the ground before settling pathetically to a stop. 

"I can't believe you were my best friend!" Alya screamed, drawing more attention to themselves. Marinette stared in shock at the blogger, who looked furious. 

"W-what?" the bluenette managed out. She was more confused and hurt than anything else. 

"You told Lila to kill herself! What is wrong with you?!" the crowd gasped at the accusation. Marinette managed to suppress an eye roll before she stood up and picked her dirtied sketchbook up from its spot. 

"I don't know what else that girl told you, but she's lying." she walked back to the bench, resuming what she was doing as if Alya wasn't there. Marinette's heart secretly bled even if she looked like she was indifferent about the situation. 

It only made Alya angrier though. 

This time, she yanked the book from Marinette and yelled, "You stole Lila's designs too! This-" she gripped the sketchbook with both hands.

"You don't deserve this!" Alya said before ripping numerous pages from its spine and Marinette watched in horror as her supposed best friend tore her livelihood apart. Everyone went silent. 

Then, Marinette fell to her knees as the remnants of her hard work fluttered to the ground. Her hands shook as she scooped some of it, taking in what Alya just did. 

"W-wait," it looked as if the girl in front of her only realized the weight of her actions. "I- I didn't mean to-" 

"I hate you." Marinette muttered, so quietly that Alya couldn't be sure if she heard her right but the shocked faces from the crowd of students confirmed her suspicion.

"What's happening?" a girl voiced out and everyone turned to see Chloé Bourgeois pushing past the sea of bystanders. When she saw everything, what happened next might as well have gotten on national TV. 

The blonde charged towards Alya, slapping her across her ugly face so hard that her glasses flew to the other side of the courtyard and shattered into pieces. The blogger landed onto the pavement with a loud thump before someone finally stepped in. 

The first was Nino, who practically threw his backpack away in favor of supporting his trembling girlfriend. Adrien held Chloé back from attacking Alya again and Marinette…

Was nowhere to be found. 

The only things left behind from the chaos was a ruined sketchbook in the middle of scattered papers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger is lyf


	3. Marinette Protection Squad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all here's chapter 3 (posted early because I luv u guys) of this work! I hope you enjoy this long chapter as much as I did writing it. <3

Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor's daughter, was having a _splendid_ morning. 

  
  


She woke up to breakfast in bed, courtesy of her butler, as usual. But rather than Jean-something delivering it to her room, her maman did and she was _ecstatic_ to say the least. 

  
  


She said she had to go back to New York again but only for a week or two and that was fine. Chloé appreciated the heads- up and hugged her maman goodbye as she left. 

  
  


What greeted her when she stepped out of the hotel was a tranquil weather, her ponytail gently flowing in the cool breeze before stepping into her limousine and going to school. 

  
  


It was such a nice day out, perhaps she could invite Marinette over for a mani-pedi sesh on her rooftop balcony later? _Good idea._

  
  


She and the bluenette had grown closer over the past few months, as they both despised the same person: Lila Rossi. After Marinette showed she didn't take her bull either and tried calling her out, Chloé started to hang around her. 

  
  


Lila had fooled the blonde into doing an idiotic dance to summon Ladybug, which proved to be fake and totally embarrassing, and Chloé _loathed_ the liar since then.   
  


On the other hand, at least something oddly positive (but unsettling for many) came from having that vixen in their class: Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloé Bourgeois became _friends._

  
  


It felt nice to be forgiven by Marinette for years of mistreating her. Sure, Chloé had apologized in her… _unique_ way _,_ (read: being a tsundere) but she was sincere nonetheless and Marinette, being the kind-hearted girl that she is, understood. 

  
  


It was as if Chloé had taken a huge leap closer to being the hero Ladybug had hoped her to be and Marinette had practically _handed_ her the opportunity. 

(That girl was just too forgiving for her own good.)

  
  


So Chloé swore on her own kwami, that she wouldn't waste this chance at redeeming herself. She won't let Paris, Ladybug or _Marinette_ down again. 

  
  
  


She sighed in bliss and closed her eyes. What could _possibly_ go wrong on this perfect day? 

  
  
  


The heiress was broken out of her reverie when the driver informed her that they had arrived at their destination. She stepped out of the limo and thanked the man. He was so taken aback by her politeness that he didn't even get to reply as she sauntered up the staircase. 

  
  
  


Chloé almost crossed the threshold of the school's entrance, only get pushed out again. _What._ She wanted to tell the culprit off but was met with a wall of clamoring students instead. 

  
  
  


The blonde was about to listen in when she heard screaming from the courtyard. Huh, was that- Césaire?

  
  


Multiple scenarios ran through her head as she pushed her way towards the chaos. Maybe Césaire just found out about Lila giving her false information? 

  
  
  


**"You stole Lila's designs too! This-"**

Okay, then. Sounds like Césaire was still caught up in that vixen's lies. Chloé shoved people out of the way now, her stomach churning. She was still less than halfway through and couldn't see the person Césaire was screaming at but she had a good guess at who it was. 

  
  
  


**"You don't deserve this!"** the blogger screamed, followed by the sound of paper ripping then silence. _Fuck. Move it, people!_

  
  
  


"What's happening?" Chloé voiced out from the crowd, which turned to her. They suddenly parted like the Red Sea and she finally saw the scene people were swarming for. 

  
  
  


There was Césaire, standing in front of Marinette who knelt on the ground, clutching at pieces of paper with an expression Chloé couldn't decipher. The bluenette seemed to not even notice her presence. 

  
  
  


In Césaire's hands was- _Marinette's sketchbook, holy shit it's destroyed,_ and appeared to be regretting her actions. 

  
  
  
  


It was then that Alya dropped the ruined sketchbook as she turned to see Chloé, her crystal eyes blown wide in disbelief and pure, **_unadulterated rage_ **.

  
  
  


Before Chloé could even think twice about it, she sprinted towards the red-head and slapped her square in the face, a satisfying sound resonating throughout the courtyard. 

  
  


She fell to the ground, holding her bruising cheek with a wince and Lahiffe all but kneeled to support his aching girlfriend. 

  
  


The blonde saw Marinette running away from the corner of her eye, making her thrust another hit at Alya if not for Adrien grabbing her. _How_ **_dare_ ** _she hurt Marinette!_

  
  


"Chloé, calm down!" Adrien begged as she struggled against his grip. Chloé shot him a warning glare, which did nothing as he kept his grasp on her. This boy could stand up against _her_ but not a social-climbing liar? _Wow._

  
  


She lunged at the blogger again. "You _bitch_!" Chloé screeched, "Why the hell would you do that to Marinette?!" Alya flinched in Nino's arms as bystanders started to scowl at them. 

  
  


"She stole Lila's work and took credit for it, I had to-"

  
  
  


"You know what, nevermind." Chloé interrupted, her tone eerily calm and she raised a hand, "I don't have time for your dumb ass believing every single lie that comes out of that attention whore. I should've known." she rubbed at her temple, feeling a migraine setting in.

  
  
  


Alya seemed offended at that, and was about to retaliate but Chloé turned on her heel, her long ponytail smacking Adrien, and started to walk away. 

  
  
  


"Um," Nino said, utterly gobsmacked by her sudden change of course in action. "What are you doing?"

  
  
  


"I'm walking away before I do something I _should_ regret." Chloé growled darkly, not even sparing them a glance. She had someone more important to attend to, _Marinette._ Hopefully Hawkmoth could offer her comfort until she arrived. 

  
  
  


"Chloé!" Adrien called out and she side-eyed him in annoyance, "I- er- can I come with you?" he fiddled with his bag's strap as he looked down at his feet. 

  
  
  


The heiress managed to stifled a laugh as she saw Césaire and Lahiffe looking absolutely _betrayed_ because Adrien wanted to go with her. _Oh, the irony._

  
  
  


At least Adrien seemed like he understood why Chloé wanted to rip out the blogger's throat, so she nodded.

  
  
  


He beamed, like the sunshine boy he was, and followed Chloé to the direction Marinette ran off. The pathetic blogger and her boyfriend were left in the courtyard, under the entire student body's judgemental glares.

  
  
  


Adrien grew tense as he and Chloé walked side-by-side down the corridor, then suddenly cleared his throat in the awkward silence, "Father talked to me last night."

  
  
  


Chloé raised a perfect eyebrow at him and he continued, "He made me realize that I've been a spineless idiot. I should've supported Marinette in all this but I didn't because I was afraid I'd-"

  
  
  


"Be ostracized like her." Chloé finished and Adrien paused in surprise.

  
  


"You knew?" he asked sheepishly as she scoffed.

  
  


" _Obviously._ Adrikins, I've known you since we were toddlers. Reading you is practically a sixth sense for me. You didn't stand up for Marinette because you've been raised in a world where lies die out as long as you don't acknowledge them." Chloé crossed her arms over her chest at the now gaping Adrien beside her. _Bullseye._

  
  


"But that doesn't excuse your passiveness." Adrien snapped out of his momentary shock and sighed. 

  
  


"Yeah, I really want to make it up to Marinette for my stupidity." he slouched, visibly depressed. Chloé flicked her hair over her shoulder and pursed her lips in thought. 

  
  


"Okay," she began, "if we both want to redeem ourselves, the first step is to actually _find her_."

  
  


"Isn't that what we're doing?" Adrien asked obliviously.

  
  


Chloé groaned. It's going to be a long day. 

  
  


_________________

  
  
  
  


Gabriel Agreste had a high tolerance for _almost_ anything. 

  
  


Alcohol? He could down it like water.

  
  


Paparazzi? Just one glare from him would send them running. 

  
  
  


Babies? _Eh._ They cry no matter what and there's nothing you could do about it. 

  
  
  


Countless failed attempts at getting the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous from a bunch of teenagers? It had hurt his pride a bit (read: a _lot_ ) but he won't quit anytime soon. He'd eventually succeed with the right plan. 

  
  
  


His son being rebellious, as well as becoming such a pacifist to the point of enabling bad behavior? Nothing a good talk couldn't fix. (Did it last night.) 

  
  
  


Lila Rossi with her annoying voice, fashion sense and personality? Bearable, since she helps cause so much negativity and creates ideal Champions for Gabriel's alter-ego to take advantage of. 

  
  
  
  


But Marinette's refusal to submit into his efforts of akumatizating her was honestly, _a pain in the ass._

  
  
  


No one, and he meant, **_no one_** could refuse him without putting up a hell of a fight. This girl though, didn't even _bat an eyelash_ as she told him off with such language a 14 year-old couldn't speak in public without getting some sort of reprimand. 

  
  
  


The reason he stopped trying at some point was because he couldn't even _get a word in_ anymore. Marinette would start singing incoherently everytime he attempted to convince her to join the dark side. 

  
  
  


_Ugh. Those were insufferable times._

  
  
  


He counted 17 successful possessions in total but all of them were a bust at villainizing her. Thus, figuring that trying to manipulate the girl was probably a waste of his energy, Hawkmoth relented to striking up casual conversation with her instead.

  
  
  


It was irritating at first (because his pride had gotten damaged further), but when Marinette's 10th akumatization rolled in, he found their interactions actually _pleasant_. 

  
  
  


He discovered she was incredibly witty, creative and full of sass. Her generosity, courage and compassion were definitely admirable qualities. 

  
  
  


Whenever Marinette designed something, she would stick her tongue out in concentration as Gabriel offered her advice on how to improve them. 

  
  
  


It was quite amusing at times because unbeknownst to the budding designer, _the_ Gabriel Agreste- her idol, he found out (and will forever deny the fact that he was _flattered_ )- was giving her professional fashion tips. 

  
  
  


Marinette Dupain-Cheng was undeniably special. He'd seen her capability of becoming someone that could make a difference in the world. That was also why she had made such a big impression on him both as Gabriel _and_ as Hawkmoth, not that she knew. 

  
  
  
  


Which was more reason to protect her. 

  
  
  
  


So when one of his akumas found Marinette crying under a tree at the nearby park one early morning, he was adamant to know the cause of such dreadful emotions. 

  
  
  


_Who had the gall to make her feel this way?_ He gritted his teeth before the butterfly made contact with her purse. 

  
  
  


_"What's wrong?"_ he asked softly as his symbol hovered over her tear-streaked face. She quickly wiped them off with a sleeve. 

  
  
  


"It's-" she sniffed and forced a smile, "it's nothing."

  
  
  


_"It's not nothing if it's making you this sad."_ Hawkmoth pressed. _"You know you can tell me."_

  
  
  


Marinette hesitated.

  
  
  


_"Look, I know I'm far from being a superhero."_ He sighed. _"But let me at least be someone you can vent to. I'll listen."_

  
  
  


That's all it took for her to cave in. She sobbed about the utter _betrayal_ and hurt she felt because of Alya Césaire, who he recalled ran the LadyBlog. 

  
  
  


Apparently, Marinette's supposed best friend had torn her sketchbook to shreds and Gabriel, being in the fashion industry, had empathized with her and more. 

  
  
  


He was downright _furious._

  
  
  


The sketchbook Marinette was talking about? She had designs in it that she made with _him._ And worse, some of them were _commissions_ from famous celebrities as MDC. 

  
  
  


He had to help her out. 

  
  
  


Because _no_ _one_ messed with Gabriel Agreste's favorite designer and got away with it.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh~ protective Hawkdaddy's angry! What'll he do next?


	4. Growth and Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, my sunflowers! I honestly had so much fun making this one. Enjoy chapter 4.

Adrien Agreste had nearly flopped onto his bed from exhaustion as his kwami munched away on a wheel of camembert last night.

  
  
  


Lila's clingy demeanor had cranked up to a 10 that day and he was absolutely _drained_. She was practically marking him everywhere with her scent, and he all but cringed away from the contact. 

  
  
  


Why couldn't she take a hint? Was his discomfort not obvious enough or did she simply not care? 

  
  
  


Either way, Adrien couldn't just tell her off. She'd probably just twist the situation to make him look like the bad guy instead. 

  
  
  


Adding to that was his father, pressuring him to keep face and not cause trouble in school or he'd pull him out. The brand was more important to him that his own son's well-being, apparently. _Thanks, dad._

  
  
  


Thinking about it, only Marinette knew of Lila's seemingly split-personality other than him (and Chloé). Adrien had told her not to out the liar because it would only make things worse and get her akumatized for it. He remembered saying something along the lines of, "take the high road, Marinette." 

  
  
  


He was starting to think that had been the wrong thing to say because what even _was_ the high road anymore? 

  
  
  


Enabling Lila's deceitful ways to take over the class and possibly, the entire school? Allowing others to get their expectations up only to find out everything was a lie in the first place? 

  
  
  


He _knew_ what her lies were doing to people but _chose_ to ignore against better judgement in hopes of dying out eventually. 

  
  
  


Adrien took pride in his intelligence but for this one, he was drawing a total blank on what to do. 

  
  
  


His thinking was interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. Adrien slowly rose from his sheets before calling out, "Come in."

  
  
  


He stiffened as his father walked into the room, looking rather _uncertain_ for some reason. 

  
  
  


"I'd like to talk to you about something, if you don't mind." Gabriel said, removing his glasses and awkwardly fidgeting with it. Okay, this was starting to unsettle Adrien.

  
  
  


"S-sure, what is it?" he stuttered nervously, anticipating some kind of scolding from him. What did he do _this_ time? 

  
  
  


Gabriel approached and took up the space beside his son, making the latter tense up further. The man continued to twiddle at his glasses' frame for a few moments before he finally spoke. 

  
  
  
  


"How was school?" he asked. 

  
  
  
  
  


"Adrien?"

  
  
  
  
  
  


"W-why are you crying?"

  
  
  
  
  


"Uh-" Gabriel was about to stand and call for help (probably from Nathalie) when his son let out a shaky laugh. 

  
  
  


"School was fine, father." Adrien smiled, rubbing at his eyes. Gabriel sat back down on the bed, albeit becoming a little uncomfortable.

  
  
  


"That's good to hear," he said awkwardly but Adrien didn't mind at all. He was already happy enough that his father had even bothered to come and ask him about his day. "Has anything been bothering you recently?" Gabriel asked, a concerned frown on his face. 

  
  
  
  


It took everything in Adrien not to break down right there and then, rant to him about Lila, that the pressure of being a model was taking a toll on him, and every single one of his insecurities.

  
  
  
  


"Honestly, y-yeah." he breathed in, _no going back now_ , "There's a girl in my class who lies with every breath and always touches me without my consent. I can't stop her." Adrien looked down at his hands before shakily adding, "I hate it."

  
  
  
  


Welp, that was it. Adrien was sure that his father was going to criticize him for being weak or something, before pulling him out of school. He's going to lose all his friends, _Marinette_ -

  
  
  


"Son," Gabriel placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder, making him visibly flinch, "you can say no."

  
  
  


Adrien looked up and barely made out an understanding expression on his father's face. _W-what?_

  
  
  


"I-I can? You won't get mad at me for it?" Adrien stared at him with hope, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

  
  
  
  


"I won't." Gabriel said, "Adrien, it doesn't make you less of a person to stand up for yourself and others." 

  
  
  
  


Finally, _finally._ That was all he waited for. 

  
  
  
  


A reassurance.

  
  
  
  


It was then that Adrien cried into his father's chest for the first time since his mother disappeared. 

  
  
  


That night, both of them came to a conclusion. Adrien realized that it was time for him to step up for Marinette and the class while Gabriel vowed cut all ties with Lila Rossi for his son's welfare.

  
  
  


All too soon, it was time for bed.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The next morning, Adrien arrived just in time to stop Chloé from assaulting Alya and judging from what he heard, the blogger had destroyed Marinette's sketchbook for Lila's sake. 

  
  
  


So he went with Chloé to look Marinette, determined to apologize for his inaction against Lila. 

  
  
  


Damn his stupid advice to take the high road. What was he thinking? Lila doesn't _want_ to be better. And he had sounded like Marinette should prioritize Lila's feelings over her own.

  
  


_Oh,_ **_god_ ** _._ What did he do? 

  
  
  


Is grovelling for her forgiveness still an option? He hoped it was because Adrien and Chloé had searched everywhere in the school for Marinette, to no avail. 

  
  
  


Chloé then suggested that they try going to Marinette's bakery, since that's where she lived. Adrien agreed and the duo decided to skip school for the day. 

  
  
  


Passing the park where he usually had his photo shoots, Adrien had the idea to glance around in hopes of seeing Marinette. His sight was caught by the familiar head of black-blue hair and stopped in his tracks to get a better look. 

  
  
  


There she was, curled up under a tree further into the park's grassy area. Adrien grabbed Chloé by the jacket and despite her protests, dragged her with him through the entrance. 

  
  
  


"Adrien! This jacket's super expensive, stop wrinkling-" her whining was shushed when Adrien pointed to Marinette's direction with a finger. 

  
  
  


"There she is." He said in relief and Chloé finally looked to where he was pointing. The blondes walked to Marinette and when they had a clear view of her, Adrien nearly screamed. 

  
  
  


"MARINETTE!"

  
  
  
  


________________

  
  
  
  


"MARINETTE!" she heard someone shout and looked up to see Adrien dashing towards her with Chloé strolling up behind him.

  
  
  


Her eyebrows furrowed, what's _he_ doing here? 

  
  
  
  


_"Give him a chance."_ Hawkmoth chided, and she pouted cutely. 

  
  
  
  


"Fine." Marinette muttered.

  
  
  
  


Adrien dropped down to his knees in front of her, cupping her face in his hands. "No, no, no, no... " his voice cracked, "this is all my fault."

  
  
  
  


Marinette's bluebell eyes blew wide at the sudden proximity and her face began to burn. 

  
  
  
  


"Marinette," Adrien murmured, gazing into her eyes, "I know you're in there."

  
  
  
  


_"Are you, Marinette?"_ Hawkmoth joked, and she mentally punched him. 

  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, Adrien watched in horror as the butterfly symbol glowed on her face again. He met his forehead with hers as Chloé casually plops down beside the couple, silently tapping away at her phone. 

  
  
  
  


"You know, father finally helped me realize that I can stand up to Lila now." Adrien smiled tearily, "I'm sorry it took me this long to grow a spine."

  
  
  
  


_"Oh, did he?"_ Hawkmoth teased. 

  
  
  
  


"I swear to God-" Marinette started, but was cut off by Adrien. 

  
  
  
  


"I know, I know." the model caressed Marinette's face with a thumb, making her bite her tongue to stifle a scream, "I'm so sorry that I didn't have your back when you needed me the most and that I told you to take the high road."

  
  
  
  


She could tell Adrien was being sincere but with someone in her head and Chloé recording in the sidelines, made ithard to concentrate.

  
  
  
  


"I'll protect you, Marinette." a stray tear rolled down his cheek, "I can't let her keep hurting the people I love, especially _you._ "

  
  
  
  
  


Holy. 

  
  
  
  
  


SHIT. 

  
  
  
  
  


_WHAAAAAAAAAAAT._

  
  
  
  
  


_"Did you hear that, Marinette? He-"_

  
  
  
  


"Just please, _please_ come back to me." Adrien begged her before closing his eyes, "Please."

  
  
  


There was a long moment of silence as Marinette gaped speechless, Chloé's camera still rolling for prosperity and Hawkmoth?

  
  
  


_"Can I have the rings delivered by next week? Both in 18 karat gold, yes. My name?"_

  
  
  
  
  


…he was in the middle of a fucking phone call with the representative of _Cartier_.

  
  
  
  
  


_"...It's Gabriel Agreste."_

  
  



	5. Scheming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo, guys! I'm finally back with a pretty long chapter 5, I hope you enjoy!

Fickleness. 

  
  
  


That trait was very evident in one, not-so-average teenage girl: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

  
  
  


She _hated_ being fickle-minded. 

  
  
  


Especially when she thought she had gotten over Adrien Agreste but there they were, her dumbstruck self being hugged by the model as he softly cried apologies into her ear. 

  
  
  


_"Mhm. Yes, thank you very much. Goodbye, now."_ Oh, right. Back to the cliffhanger. 

  
  
  


Hawkmoth ended the phone call, turning his attention back to Marinette. 

  
  
  
  


_"Aww,"_ he cooed, _"he's hugging you!"_ like the supporting father he was, squealed, when he saw what was happening. It was as if he hadn't just accidentally told her his real name. 

  
  
  


Meanwhile, Marinette was having an internal mayhem of natural disasters. 

  
  


A tsunami washing over when she discovered that Adrien was _in love_ with her. 

  
  


The earthquake was her feelings for him being shaken and returned just like that. 

  
  


The hurricane, she realized, was seeing Chloé still recording them with a huge grin on her face. Marinette had the strong urge to wipe that off in a second. 

  
  


A volcano erupting when Hawkmoth revealed he was Gabriel Agreste _._ The ash fall was thick, coating her memory after memory of every interaction with the supervillain until she was struggling to breathe. 

  
  


Gabriel Agreste had _akumatized_ her.

  
  


She had _cussed_ at Gabriel Agreste.

  
  


Gabriel Agreste had seen her in _pajamas._

  
  


She had broken down with Gabriel Agreste _in her head_ , who comforted her. 

  
  
  


Everything was crashing, swishing, booming. Marinette could barely keep it together, hugging Adrien back. 

  
  
  


"In my p-pajamas!" she sobbed. Chloé raised a brow, taken aback at how unrelated that was while Adrien froze in confusion.

  
  
  


_"Marinette, are you al-"_

  
  
  


"Pardon my profanity, sir!" the bluenette cried, not noticing how Adrien removed himself from the hug to stare at her. 

  
  
  


"M-mari?" the model asked cautiously, eyeing the symbol that glowed on her face. 

  
  
  


_"What are you talking ab- oh. OH MY GOD."_ A clang was heard from his side of the connection and then a loud thud. Marinette paused her cries, worrying about Hawk- Mr. Agreste. 

  
  


"A-are you okay?" she asked. 

  
  
  


_"Fine, I'm fine."_ he grunted, _"You're going to blackmail me now, aren't you?"_

  
  
  


She didn't hesitate, "No." Adrien decided to turn Marinette a little so that she was basically sitting in his lap and Chloé stopped filming, scooting closer beside them, waiting anxiously.

  
  
  


_"...Why not?"_ Mr. Agreste asked.

  
  
  


"'Cause we're friends?" Marinette easily replied, "And you've seen enough that you could use against me too so, yeah."

  
  
  


_"Like those Chat Noir onesi-"_

  
  
  


"Enough about that," Marinette cut him off as he chuckled, "let's talk about your identity later." she whispered so that only he could hear. 

  
  


Mr. Agreste gulped. 

  
  


"What'd he say?" Chloé blurted out, having contained the question for too long. Adrien looked utterly bewildered for the most part but stayed quiet to hear Marinette's answer. 

  
  


"He's gonna help us with Lila." Marinette smirked when Mr. Agreste spluttered indignantly. 

  
  


_"I am not!"_ he hissed, _"That's something between you kids only."_

  
  
  


"Oh, but as my friend, you get to expose Lila for the liar she is. It'll be satisfying!" she grinned, trying to convince him as the blondes stifled a laugh beside her. 

  
  
  


_"Alright, but only if you agree to be my daughter-in-law."_ Mr. Agreste countered. 

  
  
  


"Oh my god, we're _teenagers_!" she exclaimed, scandalized, although a slight blush tinted her cheeks. 

  
  
  


_"Of course, I was just kidding."_ Marinette sighed in relief but then, _"Maybe."_

  
  
  


"Hawky!"

  
  
  


________________

  
  
  
  


_Eugh._

  
  
  


Lila Rossi shuddered, feeling as if someone had double-crossed her. 

  
  
  


And considering the fact that Adrien, Chloé and Marinette were all missing from class did not help at all. Those three were the only people not dumb enough to fall for her lies, unlike her mindless sheep. 

  
  
  


They were up to something, Lila didn't know what, but she'd be ready to manipulate the situation anytime.

  
  
  


For instance, right now. 

  
  
  


"Lila, did Marinette really tell you all that stuff?" Alya asked as she slumped over their shared desk to look at her. It was break time and they were in the middle of getting some snacks out to eat. Lila quirked a brow at the skepticism in the blogger's tired eyes but quickly started up the water works. 

  
  
  


"You don't believe me, Alya?" she asked, wobbling her lower lip for good measure. This attracted the attention of their classmates and they began to glare at Alya. Lila had to cover her mouth to hide a sneer, making it look like she did it to stifle a sob. 

  
  
  


"No, no!" Alya backpedaled as she raised her hands, her eyes ridden with guilt, "It doesn't matter. I believe you." she said, looking somewhat relieved and the class seemed content with that. 

  
  
  


Lila wiped a faux tear, putting on the most plastic of smiles. "Thank you, Alya. You're the best friend anyone could wish for." she said, "I'm thankful that you _always_ have my back."

  
  
  


The blogger's eyes softened, leaning in for a hug which Lila had to return. _Ugh._ She had to hide her disgust somehow so she settled for burying her face in Alya's shoulder.

  
  
  


"Of course," Alya said, "that's what real friends do."

  
  
  


_Oh, shit._ Lila disguised her laughter as happy crying while Alya patted her back in a comforting manner. _What an idiot._

  
  
  


"Y-yeah," Lila said, still trying to recover from the irony, "it's good that you've moved on from a bully like Marinette." Everyone in the classroom nodded in agreement, including Alya. 

  
  
  


See? Just a little acting and Lila has her sheep herded in no time. She almost felt bad for Marinette, who was cast aside by her so-called friends at the drop of a hat. 

  
  
  


Lila snickered, _almost_. 

  
  
  


________________

  
  
  
  


"Wait, wait, wait." Adrien said and paused from unzipping his duffel bag, "You've been akumatized _17_ times?!" he then turned to Marinette, who was dragging a large backpack through the bedroom door. She panted a little before sitting down beside her bag to rest a bit. 

  
  
  


"18, if you count this one." She corrected as Chloé grabbed a laptop from her bed. 

  
  
  


"Jesus Christ." Adrien muttered. 

  
  
  


The three of them (Hawkmoth was still present) had just arrived at Chloé's hotel suite, intent on planning Lila Rossi's demise as the girls explained to Adrien what had happened over the past few months since Lila's "trip from Achu".

  
  
  


Since it was Friday, Chloé suggested to have a sleepover in order to figuratively execute the liar on Monday. 

  
  
  


Adrien called up Nathalie to ask for permission and to his glee, his father had pretty much instantly allowed him to stay at his childhood friend's place. 

  
  
  


(Nathalie gave the phone to Hawkmoth and because he already knew what was going on through Marinette, he said: "Go ahead." but she kept that to herself.)

  
  
  


Marinette had asked her parents as well and was met with hesitance but she elaborated that it was to expose the school's serial liar, to which they immediately approved. 

  
  
  


She and Adrien were unpacking things from the sleepover bags that they went back to their homes for, to begin plotting. As they did, Chloé helped her butler lay out their food on the veranda.

  
  
  


Soon enough, the trio sat around a glass table covered with five-star meals, under a large, white and yellow patio umbrella. They had their electronics out on the table as they talked. 

  
  
  


"So," Chloé began, primly cutting through her _Pan-seared Foie Gras_ , "I was thinking like, throwing that bitch an 'appreciation' party."

  
  


"Chloé!" Marinette chided without actual heat behind it, "Language."

  
  


Adrien smirked beside her, "You can't deny it, though."

  
  
  


She took a bite of her _Tarte tatin_ sheepishly, "Yeah." then discreetly fed Tikki a piece. 

  
  
  


"As I was saying," Chloé put her chin on her interlaced fingers and leaned in conspiratorially, "this party could be to 'apologize' to Lila and the class."

  
  
  


"What?!" Marinette and Adrien gasped in unison. She would rather eat a rat _alive_ than to apologize to that wench. 

  
  
  


"See, they all think you're a bully." the heiress said, rolling her eyes at that last part, "And if you invite them to a party to 'apologize', they wouldn't be able to say no, _especially_ Lila."

  
  
  


Adrien nodded, looking like he knew where this was going, "Then we should have as many celebrities she lied being related to as possible."

  
  
  


Chloé grinned, "Exactly."

  
  
  


"But they know that I'm set on believing she's a liar. Why would I suddenly apologize?" Marinette asked. 

  
  
  


"Because you 'realized that it was unfair to judge her like that' and 'want to give her a chance'." Chloé stated, adding air quotes. 

  
  
  


Marinette cringed, already imagining how that was going to go. She agreed to the plan, including Adrien, despite having to swallow her pride to expose Lila. 

  
  
  


They listed down all the people they could recall from Lila's tall tales and talked some more about what each of their roles were. Adrien was going to sponsor Marinette who was designing, and Chloé was going to provide catering and the venue. 

  
  
  


They finished lunch and were about to head inside when, _"What do I do?"_ Mr. Agreste suddenly spoke up, startling Marinette. She told the blondes to go ahead as she still needed to talk to Hawkmoth. 

  
  
  


The bluenette leaned her arms against the veranda's railing, pondering for a moment. 

  
  
  


"You can help us get some dirt on Lila, I guess." Marinette suggested.

  
  
  


_"I may have just the thing."_ he said, making her curious. 

  
  
  


"What is it?" 

  
  
  


_"It's a secret. I'll show you on the day itself."_

  
  
  


Marinette groaned, impatient. She settled for an "okaaay." as he laughed, clearly pleased with himself. 

  
  
  


"Mr. Agreste?" she whispered when his chuckles died down. 

  
  
  


_"Yes?"_

  
  
  


"Will you still be friends with me after this?" she asked, fiddling with her purse as Tikki patted her arm in encouragement. 

  
  
  


He didn't answer for a solid minute and left her anxiously waiting before, _"Sure, Marinette."_

  
  
  


Another minute of silence passed.

  
  
  


_"Can I trust that you won't share my identity? I'd like to tell him myself when the time is right."_ Mr. Agreste said. 

  
  
  


Marinette smiled earnestly. She knew who he was talking about. 

  
  
  


"Definitely, Hawky."

  
  
  


Not long after, a pure white butterfly emerged from her purse and Marinette headed back into the suite, feeling the happiest she'd been in months. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


She entered Chloé's bedroom with a skip in her step only to find no one there. 

  
  
  


Where _were_ those two? 

  
  
  


Her phone buzzed from inside her purse and she fished it out, taking a look at the message. It was from Chloé. 

  
  
  


**_Come to suite 810._ **

  
  
  


Marinette shrugged, making sure to lock the door on her way out and used the elevator down to the 8th floor since Chloé's room was at the top level.

  
  
  


She walked down the halls, making a beeline for 810. Marinette already knew where it was and knocked twice. She heard scuffling from the other side before the door was thrown open, making her jump in surprise. 

  
  
  


"Yo, Mari! My favorite little designer," Jagged Stone appeared before her, smiling wide and ruffled her hair affectionately, "come in, come in, we were just talking about you."

  
  
  


The bluenette giggled at his antics, "Hey, Uncle J." and stepped into his suite. She found Chloé chatting with Penny on the couch as Adrien sat on the carpet in front of them, rubbing at Fang's belly. 

  
  
  


Marinette settled beside Adrien and petted the spoiled crocodile's nose.

  
  
  


"Fang's so cute." she said fondly. From the corner of her eye, Marinette could see Adrien staring at her and she fought back a blush. 

  
  
  


"You're cuter." he mumbled. Blood rushed to her cheeks anyway and Penny, _bless her_ , cleared her throat to catch their attention. 

  
  
  


The woman had a meaningful glint in her eyes even as she spoke, "Chloé said something about a party?"

  
  
  


"O-oh," Marinette stammered, "it's actually for my bully."

  
  
  


The bluenette didn't notice how Jagged and Penny grew tense, nor Chloé's facepalm as she was too focused on the angelic smile Adrien was giving her. 

  
  
  


"Your _what_ now?" Jagged asked with a hardness that quickly brought Marinette and Adrien back to reality. 

  
  
  


"There's this new girl at school," Adrien began, "she threatened Marinette because she tried to call her out for lying about a lot of things." he explained, taking one of Marinette's hands into his own, rubbing soothing circles at the back of it.

  
  
  


"Lila's hurt Marinette physically, mentally and emotionally on a daily basis through different ways, though making herself still look like the victim." Chloé added.

  
  
  


"So why the hell are you three throwing a party for that little witch?" Jagged growled, sitting on the couch so that Penny was in between him and Chloé. 

  
  
  


Adrien pointed out, "To expose her."

  
  
  


It was Penny who spoke next, "How exactly is a _party, of_ all things, going to reveal that girl's true colors?"

  
  
  


"I'm glad you asked," Chloé smirked dangerously, the kind that one would see a sadistic queen (read: Queen of Hearts) have before executing someone with the town guillotine, "the party itself won't but the _guests_ will."

  
  
  


"Oooh~" Jagged's grin was nearly sinister, "Interesting. What's the plan?"

  
  
  


The rest of the afternoon was spent plotting Lila's figurative death, with Jagged making phone calls to some friends and Penny helping the teens organize the party.

  
  
  


Marinette almost felt guilty for Lila, as she was going to have her head served on a plate in front of the class and maybe, the entire school on Monday. 

  
  
  


Keyword: _Almost_. 

  
  
  



	6. BONUS CHAPTER: Hawkdaddy Snippets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little treat for you Hawkdaddy lovers!

"If you don't want to be my friend, fine. But soon, you won't have  _ any  _ friends left at all."

  
  


Marinette got cornered by a lying, sausage-haired looking, no-eyebrow-bitch named Lila Rossi. 

  
  


Said vixen slammed both her hands on  each side of Marinette's head, trapping her like a predator about to eat its prey against the wall. 

  
  


"You seem a little less dumb than the others so I'll give you one last chance." Lila sneered, "You're either with me, or against me."

  
  


Marinette honestly couldn't help but notice this girl's unevenly chopped bangs like,  _ what the fuck? Need help cutting that off?  _

  
  


"You don't have to answer right away, I'll give you until the end of class today." Lila then pivoted around and exited the bathroom, leaving Marinette stunned.

  
  


All at once, everything kicked in and the bluenette stomped her way into a cubicle, slamming it shut with a force that shook its hinges. 

  
  


"That  _ bitch _ !" Marinette spat, "she's manipulating all my friends and threatened to turn them against me, including Adrien!"

  
  


Tikki zipped out of her purse, trying her best to help the seething girl, "You mustn't let her get to you, Marinette!"

  
  


"If I don't expose her lying ass, there's no doubt she's going to accomplish her goal of ruining my life!" Marinette punched the cubicle wall before tears ran down her cheeks in frustration. Her nails dug into her forearm as she bent over, sobbing loudly. 

  
  


Unbeknownst to both of them, a certain blonde walked into the bathroom just then, to retouch her makeup before lunch ended. 

  
  


Tikki screamed repeatedly to warn Marinette of the akuma closing in, to no avail. The butterfly made contact with one of the ribbons that held Marinette's pigtails but in a split second, she knew exactly what was happening. A symbol glowed on her face as her breath stilled. 

  
  


_ "Feeling frus-" _ she cut the bastard off before her brain even caught up to her mouth. 

  
  


"Do you value your life?" 

  
  


_ "...Excuse m-" _

  
  


"If you do, then I suggest for you to fuck off before I make you." for  _ some reason _ (read: Chloé enjoying too much), a distinct roast sfx was heard outside the stall but ignored. 

  
  


_ "Who are you to-" _

  
  


"Go die in a ditch now," Marinette said as an ultimatum.

  
  


It took all of two seconds for Hawkmoth to forcefully recall his insect. Tikki was about to say something when the stall door flew open, barely giving enough time for the kwami to hide.

  
  


"Hilarious," Chloé cackled and pulled Marinette up from the ground, "utterly hilarious."

  
  


"D-did I just-" the bluenette seemed to only realize what had happened as she was tugged out of the cubicle. 

  
  


"You did," Chloé grinned, linking arms with Marinette and walked out of the bathroom to help her recover. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Days after her first akumatization, the bluenette sighed wistfully as she sketched in her bedroom, remembering the way Adrien chided her regarding Lila earlier that week. 

  
  


She understood that he didn't know better, considering he was sheltered before this year and all, but that didn't stop her from feeling a little down. 

  
  


Adrien was right that directly confronting the liar would be a bad idea, Marinette could admit, because Lila could easily turn the situation to her favor.

  
  


Despite that, Marinette just wished that Adrien would at least make the effort to back her up somehow. 

  
  


Well, she  _ didn't  _ mention the fact Lila threatened her and got akumatized for it. Maybe-

  
  


_ "Your dear friend, who you hoped to have your back, let you down-"  _ a deep, familiar voice began but she interrupted.

  
  


"Ugh," Marinette cringed in disgust, "can't a girl get sentimental for just one minute without  _ you _ taking advantage of it?"

  
  


_ "I'm  _ **_trying_ ** _ here."  _ Hawkmoth said _ ,  _ barely containing his annoyance,  _ "Why don't you just accept my power already?"  _

  
  


"Powers from a closet pervert who has an obsession with manipulating minors? No thanks." she said apathetically, scribbling details on her design's bodice. Hawkmoth sputtered. 

  
  


_ "That is  _ **_not_ ** _ true-" _

  
  


"Denial," Marinette smirked, "although it  _ is  _ the natural response to getting caught."

  
  


_ "I'm not 'getting caught' at anything because your assumptions are  _ **_wrong_ ** _." _ he insisted. 

  
  


"Why do you keep targeting me, then?"

  
  


_ "That's because-" _

  
  


"-you're a fucking closet pervert. Now, get out of my head. I'm a lost-cause anyway."

  
  


_ "...You'll eat those words when I evilise you someday." _

  
  


Marinette waved her hand dismissively, "Promises, promises. Shoo, perv."

  
  


Hawkmoth grumbled,  _ "The bodice doesn't flatter that skirt."  _ before calling his butterfly back. Marinette glanced down at her design as she took in his words. 

  
  


"Huh," she reached for an eraser, "isn't he useful."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


_ They left her again.  _

  
  


Marinette licked at her ice cream dejectedly, walking behind the group of teenagers that she once called her friends. Lie-la was front and center of everyone, basking in their attention as she told tall tales. 

  
  


She kinda wished that Chloé was here, not out of town, so that she could excuse herself to hang out with her instead. 

  
  


Marinette sighed. Nobody even noticed the akuma making its way into her purse nor the symbol that glowed on her face.

  
  


_ "How… pathetic." _ Hawkmoth commented. She knew this was his way of getting back at her for accusing him of being a pervert. 

  
  


"No one asked for your opinion." she said, but it didn't sound like the retort she was aiming for. 

  
  


_ "I don't care,"  _ he replied childishly,  _ "I am merely sharing what I've observed." _

  
  


Marinette tilted her head in confusion, "Wait, who's pathetic? Me or my friends fawning over Lila?"

  
  


_ "Actually, I was talking about you,"  _ Hawkmoth quipped, making the bluenette roll her eyes,  _ "but I can see that your classmates are fairly pitiful as well." _

  
  


She was about to speak when,  _ "Especially the blonde boy who that girl with sausage-hair is clinging to." _

  
  


Marinette looked up to see, low and behold, Adrien walking ahead of the group being groped discreetly by Lila again. 

  
  


"I know right," she said as she bit into her ice cream cone in irritation, "though he's just being polite."

  
  


Hawkmoth snorted in derision,  _ "But she's a personified leech." _

  
  


Marinette managed to suppress a chortle at that, causing some of her classmates to turn and look at her oddly. Fortunately, Hawkmoth timed himself so that she wouldn't be caught with his symbol. 

  
  


"True." she couldn't avoid the smirk creeping her onto lips, "she's quite the  _ parasite _ , huh?"

  
  


They shared a quiet snicker of agreement. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


_ "You're hurrying your strokes." _

  
  


"Oh," she pursed her lips and corrected herself.

  
  


_ "Better." _ Hawkmoth hummed in approval. 

  
  


Marinette was on her balcony, drawing away in her sketchbook. Apparently, the supervillain in her head had a knack for fashion and gladly provided suggestions to improve her designs. 

  
  


After a crappy day with Alya trying to set her up with Lila, she had gotten akumatized once again but at least Hawkmoth hadn't tried manipulating her like usual. 

  
  


Marinette shifted in her lounge chair, tugging at her pajamas as her lips turned into a frown. Then, she set her pencil down. 

  
  


"Why does Alya keep insisting me to befriend Lila? It's so annoying." 

  
  


Hawkmoth paused before,  _ "That poor excuse for a reporter?"  _

  
  


"Well..." Marinette twiddled her thumbs, "Alya's still my friend." she weakly said, unsure about the last part.

  
  


_ "Even you aren't convinced of that."  _ he said.

  
  


"She… hasn't been acting like one, yeah." the bluenette sighed as she picked up her pencil again, twirling it between her fingers. Hawkmoth cleared his throat. 

  
  


_ "People and relationships are like that when there's evil, "  _ he said,  _ "they either fall apart easily or grow stronger because of it." _

  
  


Marinette blinked, taken aback by his sudden attempt at comforting her. Since when was Hawkmoth  _ nice?  _

  
  


"Are you... _ trying _ to cheer me up?" she asked. 

  
  


He hesitated,  _ "No." _

  
  


"You  _ are _ !" Marinette exclaimed, happy with this discovery. The man still had some good in his heart after all. 

  
  


_ "Stop making a big deal out of it."  _ Hawkmoth muttered under his breath but she heard it anyway and felt him  _ flush  _ in embarrassment. 

  
  


She cooed at his flustered state, "Aww, Hawky!" 

  
  


_ "Speak of this to anyone and I will hunt you down myself." _

  
  


Marinette made a show of zipping her lips and throwing the key away. She couldn't help the giggles bubbling out though.

  
  


Meanwhile, Hawkmoth just shook his head in regret. 


	7. Chapter 6: The Weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have a fixed posting schedule! Hehe- here's chapter 6!

Saturday quickly passed with Marinette making invitations, Adrien fixing up a meeting with the whole class the next day, and Chloé busy with the venue for the party, which they decided on the rooftop of  _ Le Grand Paris.  _

  
  


As soon as Marinette was finished with the cards, Adrien had sent messages to their class group chat (which didn't include her because she was rudely kicked out by Alya) saying that he'd like for all of them to meet up at  _ Champ de Mars  _ for something important. 

  
  


There was a little hesitation from their classmates since they knew he was still on good terms with Marinette but they eventually said yes.

  
  


Truthfully, she was still bitter that her 'friends', who had known her since they were children, just  _ abandoned  _ her for some new girl spewing bullshit that was in the form of empty promises and grand stories. 

  
  


Marinette was also unquestionably livid over Alya destroying her sketchbook a couple of days ago, and the fact that  **_the_ ** _ Gabriel Agreste _ had been the one who encouraged her designs in it made the act more unforgivable. 

  
  


She didn't know if she could stomach even looking at Alya, but she had to be as convincing as possible for this to work. 

  
  


Marinette can acknowledge that Lila's talent for acting was great. 

  
  


But that doesn't mean two can play at that game. 

  
  


____________

  
  
  


When Alya saw Adrien's messages on their group chat, she was mostly skeptical of him considering he had left her and Nino for  _ Chloé _ . Yet, her journalist side couldn't help but be curious at the same time. 

  
  


What was so important for Adrien, infamous for having tight schedules, to make a meeting with the  _ entire  _ class? On a  _ Sunday,  _ no less? 

  
  


Was he up to something, or did he just want to talk to everyone?

  
  


Either way, she decided to go and find out for herself. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


The next day was their meetup near the Eiffel Tower. By the time Alya got there, most of the class was already present, sans Chloé and Marinette. 

  
  


Alya let out a sigh of relief.  _ Good.  _ She wouldn't have taken the inevitable awkwardness otherwise. 

  
  


Adrien was in the middle of everyone, being bombarded by questions as she walked towards them. 

  
  


"Guys!" he almost shouted, effectively quieting down their classmates. "I know it was sudden to invite you out today but please,  _ speak one at a time. _ "

  
  


They all looked sheepish before, "What's this for, anyway?" Alix piped up from beside Alya. Majority voiced a chorus of agreement with the question. 

  
  


Instead of answering though, Adrien had looked over the group and suddenly sported a sunny smile as his eyes glimmered, making the teens turn to look for the cause of such an expression.

  
  


They saw a silver Rolls Royce pull up along the curb before its chauffeur opened the suicide door behind the driver’s seat. They broke out in whispers when none other than their class president stepped out of the luxury car, shyly thanking the man as she headed towards them. Alya involuntarily tensed.

  
  


“Ow, ow, ow…” Lila suddenly whimpered, switching the class’s attention to her. Alya, for her part, quickly rushed to her friend’s aid.

  
  


“What’s wrong, Lila?” Rose asked worriedly as the rest of the girls tended to their injured friend, who was gingerly holding her wrist.

  
  


A tear escaped Lila’s eyes, “It seems that my arthritis is acting up again. I don’t think I-”

  
  


“Oh, my!” Marinette interrupted, placing a hand on her heart before she instantaneously fished out a pack of pills along with a small bottle of water from her large tote bag. She offered both to Lila with a smile, “It’s a good thing I came prepared.”

  
  


Lila eyed the pills warily, to Alya’s surprise. Was that how much Marinette couldn’t be trusted anymore?

  
  


“What  _ are _ those?” the blogger butted in, becoming suspicious of Marinette’s intentions. After all she’s done to poor Lila, who could blame her for being a little cautious?

  
  


Marinette narrowed her eyes at her, “It's Ibuprofen." then shot Lila a confused look, "Don’t you recognize your own medicine given that you have arthritis?” 

  
  


Silence reigned over as the class watched for Lila’s response, or lack thereof, while Adrien walked over to Marinette’s side nonchalantly.

  
  


"Just take it,” he prodded Lila, “since it’s painful enough for you to cry.” he added with a sympathetic pout. At that, everyone spoke simultaneously in encouragement.    
  


Lila abruptly grabbed the foil pack and bottle of water from Marinette, popped out a pill and downed it. The girls hugged her after she did so.

  
  


“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Marinette smiled without even a smidge of maliciousness in her tone whatsoever. Lila shook her head and gave the bluenette an appreciative smile back.

  
  


“Thanks, Marinette.” she gritted out through clenched teeth, not that anyone noticed. Unfortunately for Lila, she hasn't actually eaten anything all day due to her habit of skipping meals. 

  
  


“I knew you’d get back to your senses eventually, girl.” Alya patted Marinette on the shoulder as the class nodded in agreement. The latter only gave a hum in return.

  
  
  


___________

  
  
  


Marinette was laughing Chloé style in her head.

  
  


Not only did she back Lila into a corner, she even got the liar to drink a strong medicine that would probably do some damage since she didn’t really have arthritis.  _ Oopsie.  _ As satisfying the moment was, it was over just as fast when Alya opened her mouth to talk.

  
  


“I knew you’d get back to your senses eventually, girl.” and then had the _ audacity _ to place her hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

  
  


She wanted to hiss at Alya, tell her to get her  _ fucking hand away before she chops it off _ . 

  
  


But she didn’t. Instead, Marinette bit her tongue and just hummed, albeit pissed off.

  
  


Alya sighed,  _ sighed!  _ “I’m also super sorry about ruining your sketchbook. That was mean, no matter what you’ve done to Lila.”

  
  


Marinette's eye twitched in anger and was ready to commit murder right then and there when Adrien sharply poked her side. 

  
  


She squeaked, frowning at him in annoyance. He gave her a meaningful look. 

  
  


_ Right. There was a plan.  _ So, Marinette tried to calm herself. She breathed in, and out. In, out. In-

  
  


“Can you forgive me?” Alya asked hopefully, bringing Marinette back to the situation she was in. 

  
  


_ Of  _ **_course_ ** _ not.  _ She wanted to spit in her face. 

  
  


"Sure," Marinette forced out, "but I won't forget." Alya nodded, the message clearly not taken seriously. She probably expected Marinette to always be the  _ sweet, kind, forgiving  _ girl she knew. 

  
  


And let's not forget the fact that Marinette was  _ selflessly generous.  _

  
  


She'll give them _generous_ , all right. 

  
  


"Oh!" Marinette exclaimed, catching everyone's attention again, "I almost forgot, the reason Adrien got you all out here today is actually because of me."

  
  


The teens were piqued with curiosity.

  
  


She continued, "I'm here to apologize for my shortcomings these past few months."  _ Ew, that felt like sandpaper on her tongue. _ "To try and patch up this tear with the class, I wanted to invite you guys to a get-together."

  
  


Some of the students cooed, while most chattered in excitement. Their clear enthusiasm almost made Marinette want to scoff. 

  
  


"If you'd like to come," she smiled sweetly, "I've made invitations and have them on hand, just get them here."

  
  


Marinette got a handful of cards from her bag, which Adrien was holding for her, as the students fell over themselves to line up in front of her.

  
  


"Come on Lila!" Kim patted said girl's back in an attempt to get her to line up as well. She looked hesitant more than anything. 

  
  


"Yeah, Marinette's just trying to be friends again." Nino said, slinging an arm around his girlfriend's waist while they walked up behind Lila, "give her a chance." 

  
  


Astonishingly, Chloé had it backwards: Marinette wasn't the one who had to "give Lila a chance". It became the _other way_ instead! 

  
  


Barely suppressing a victorious cackle, Marinette also noticed that Lila really didn't want to but with her classmates' pushy nature, she caved as predicted.

  
  


"Here's yours, Lila." Marinette eventually handed her mortal enemy an invitation with bubbly cheerfulness.

  
  


Nobody saw the way Lila sent her a glare that told plenty of things ranging from  _ 'You'll pay'  _ to  _ 'I fucking hate you.' _

  
  
  


Marinette just smiled. 

  
  
  


_ 'It's only the beginning.' _

  
  
  



	8. Chapter 7: Collecting Dirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, 1000+ kudos already? Thank you for your support, everyone! Here's chapter 7 <33

Sadly, the worst Lila got from taking unprescribed medicine with an empty stomach was only a mild bellyache later that afternoon. 

  
  


Marinette expected a little more than that but since the dosage was hardly enough to actually be harmful, nothing much happened.

  
  


The bluenette was satisfied with her petty deed, seeing her bully clutch at her stomach in pain. Of course, this was easily remedied by eating lunch with the class and it subsided. 

  
  


Although some discomfort on Lila's part could never amount to months of abuse, ostracization, and depression she caused her, Marinette was starting to feel like everything was going to be okay again. 

  
  


She had  _ genuine  _ people to support her now, albeit a mind-boggling group, they were true friends nonetheless and she felt more than blessed to have such kind individuals by her side. 

  
  


Once she got to know Chloé and Hawkmoth better, she discovered that they had soft hearts despite having a tough guise, and had their own quirks. Adrien also had her back now, to Marinette's glee. 

  
  


The four of them had really grown inseparable as time passed, while the friendships with her classmates had simply fallen apart all because of a liar. 

  
  


Marinette didn't like wasting her tears on those lost relationships, because they weren't even worth it to mourn about, so she began to focus more on the people that make her happy. 

  
  


She may be the hero of Paris, and that caring for others was her nature, but she learned the hard way (read: hours of lecturing from Gabriel's alter ego) that she also had to think of her well-being. 

  
The party was semi-formal, as Adrien reminded in their conversation with the class, but kept quiet on why it was. The celebrities that were going to attend was a surprise, after all. 

  
  


Marinette (well-scripted yet begrudgingly) informed her classmates that this was, in fact, also an apology to Lila for getting on the wrong foot and that she'd like to start from scratch. 

  
  


The class cooed and rejoiced them burying the hatchet, before eventually parting ways to prepare their own attires. 

  
  


Lila had stayed behind, promising to thwart whatever Marinette was trying to do when Adrien interrupted, curtly bidding the vixen goodbye as he pulled Marinette away by the hand. 

  
  


At this point, it was already late in the afternoon, and the duo walked towards the park exit as they gazed at the sun dipping into the color-splashed horizon. 

  
  


__________

  
  


Gabriel had woken up to a series of  _ bangs _ and rushed footsteps outside his room at 5 in the morning. 

  
  


At first, he thought that someone had broken into the mansion, so arming himself with one of his particularly sharp trophies, Gabriel crept towards the noise. 

  
  


It was coming from Adrien's bedroom and fearing the worst, he barged in to protect his son.

  
  


Tuxedos, coats, long-sleeved polos, Americanas, and an assortment of pants were strewn about the bed, as various dress shoes cluttered the carpeted floor. 

  
  


"What in the world?" he muttered to himself.

  
  


At the same time, Adrien had come out of the bathroom, half naked and a towel on his head. 

  
  


"Dad?" he smiled sheepishly, "What's up?" 

Gabriel sighed in relief before crossing his arms over his chest, and would have looked intimidating if not for his pajamas.  "Adrien, what in god's name are you doing up at such an hour?" 

  
  


The boy rubbed his blonde locks with a towel, "Just took a shower."

  
  


"School isn't until  _ eight _ ." Gabriel set down the award nearby, "You're going to get eyebags from this."

  
  


"Hehe," Adrien scratched the back of his neck guiltily, "it'll be worth it though."

  
  


Gabriel paused, then glanced at the clock on the desk next to the huge pile of formal wear.  _ Monday, 05:23.  _

  
  


Ah yes, Monday. 

  
  
  


Monday. 

  
  


…

  
  
  


What was with today, again? 

  
  
  


As Adrien went off to put on some clothes, Gabriel sat down on the computer chair and stared at the digital clock, wracking his brain to hopefully get an answer. 

  
  


_ Monday.  _

  
  
  


_ Shower.  _

  
  
  


_ Formal wear.  _

  
  
  


_ Eyebags are worth it?  _

  
  
  


He could not, for the life of him, remember what was with Monday until a duffel bag caught his eye, the very same Adrien brought for a sleepover a couple of days ago. 

  
  


Gabriel smacked his forehead when he realized that today was the retribution of Marinette. How could he have already forgotten when he had something planned for her bully's demise? 

  
  


He walked out of the room, golden trophy in hand, to get ready for the day as well. 

  
  


Gabriel Agreste was  _ not _ going to miss that party if he could help it. 

  
  


___________

  
  
  


Adrien was dressed in his regular clothes for school and packed his formal ones into the duffel bag. The coat and tie he was going to wear were ironed and in its nylon casing, on a hanger which he was carrying by hand. 

  
  


Nathalie had offered to deliver it to him at the end of the day instead, but he declined. Adrien wanted to change as soon as class was over for last-minute touch ups at the venue. 

  
  


The classroom was filled with excited chatter as he tip-toed over dozens of extra bags scattered around, not to mention the amount of dresses and men's coats that hung on the windows like curtains. 

  
  


Trekking on a mountain would've been easier than getting to his seat, honestly. 

  
  


"Hi, Adrien!" a familiar nasally voice greeted, and, not even bothering to cover up a scowl, he turned to Lila who fluttered her (fake) eyelashes at him flirtatiously. 

  
  


"What?" he snapped.

  
  


Lila faltered, surprised by his uncharacteristically sharp tone but shook it off.

  
  


"Would you have the pleasure of escorting me to the party later?" she asked confidently.

  
  


Adrien chuckled in disbelief at that. How egotistical this girl was, like  _ anyone  _ would actually find her company pleasurable. All Lila ever did when she was with other people was to brag endlessly about herself.

  
  


Just as he was about to ask,  _ "Are you crazy?" _ , Marinette appeared out of nowhere and offered him a chocolate glazed donut. 

  
  


"Hey, Adrien." she smiled at him, the kind that made him blush unconsciously, "Care for a donut?"

  
  


"S-sure." he stammered as bluenette glanced at Lila, who was practically lying on the desk to talk to him. 

  
  


"Lila," Marinette acknowledged, "want one?" then, with perfected klutziness, she tripped on a bag and the pastry flew onto Lila's crop top, smearing it with the chocolate ooze. 

  
  


The latter screamed as she examined her dirtied shirt, making everyone turn towards them.

  
  


"O-oh my god, I'm so so sorry!" Marinette babbled, "Let me clean that for you!"

  
  
  


The vixen glared daggers at Marinette, probably about to pounce when-

  
  
  


"Ah, Marinette! You're such a klutz sometimes!" Alya sighed fondly, squatting down to pick up the wasted donut. "Go on, help Lila wash up in the bathroom. Leave this to me."

  
  


Seeing no way to refuse, Lila pivoted on her heel and quickly walked out of the classroom, with Marinette following suit. 

  
  
  


___________

  
  
  


Well  _ that  _ was easier than expected.

  
  


Thanks to Alya, yet again, for inadvertently helping her to carry out the plan, Marinette trailed behind Lila in the hallway. 

  
  


Even if she predicted that it would happen, Marinette still shrunk into herself when Lila slammed her onto the bathroom wall with the intent to hurt. 

  
  


"You think I'm stupid?" the latter hissed, "Just because you have friends now, doesn't mean you can get cocky."

  
  


Marinette stuttered, "W-what?"

  
  


Lila slapped her to the ground before grasping her cheeks with one hand, "Don't play dumb with me."

  
  


"I-I'm not!" Marinette said.

  
  
  


Lila tightened her grip on her jaw, causing tears of pain to leak out. "You don't want to admit that you're trying to get back at me, fine. I could ruin your life in a snap anyway." she smiled psychotically, "You'll die all alone and even then, everyone you  _ ever  _ knew would still hate you."

  
  


She released Marinette, went into a stall and changed her top. Before going out the door, Lila glanced back at her.  "Consider this as your last warning." 

  
  


Then, it clicked shut. 

  
  
  


"Nice!" Tikki zipped out from her purse and they exchanged a high-five. 

  
  


Marinette rubbed her bruising cheeks, "How was it?" 

  
  


"The audio was loud and clear, there's no chance she'll get away." the kwami chirped enthusiastically.

  
  


The bluenette patted the little god, "Good job, Tikki!" 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Marinette fumbled for her phone as soon as she exited the bathroom, and this time, taking a video of the scene unfolding across from where she was. 

  
  


It was Lila: chasing something.

  
  
  


That something? 

  
  
  


Well, it was an  _ akuma.  _

  
  
  


_ This is just too good, _ she thought. 

  
  
  


Interestingly, Marinette noted that the butterfly glowed more of a  _ lavender _ color instead of the usual blackish-purple fizz.

  
  


Half a minute of running after it, Lila finally caught the creature with a triumphant grin on her face. 

  
  
  


Marinette zoomed in as the unsuspecting girl shoved the akuma into her hair tie, power washing over her and turned into a villain. 

  
  
  


Cutting the video there, the bluenette ran back into the bathroom.

  
  
  


"Tikki, spots on!"

  
  
  
  



End file.
